U.S. Raid Kills Iraqi Blamed In Maupin’s Death

CINCINNATI -- The father of an Army reservist who was captured and killed in Iraq said he never doubted that the people responsible for his son's death would be found and punished.

Hajji Hammadi, the al-Qaida in Iraq leader blamed in the 2004 abduction and murder of Staff Sgt. Matt Maupin and other deadly attacks over several years, was killed in a Nov. 11 raid by U.S. forces in Baghdad's Mansour neighborhood, the military said Thursday.

"This guy was finally held accountable for what he's done, and I think I'm happy about that because we're all held accountable," Keith Maupin said. "They told me they killed him on Veterans Day. Ain't that appropriate."

Maupin's son was a 20-year-old private first class who was seized when his fuel convoy was attacked by insurgents in Iraq on April 19, 2004, as the insurgency was gaining strength. Al-Jazeera aired a videotape later that month showing the Batavia, Ohio, native wearing camouflage and a floppy desert hat, sitting on a floor surrounded by five masked men holding automatic rifles.

Keith Maupin said the Army knew that Hammadi was in the videotape.

"They told me he was the tall guy standing behind Matt," Maupin said. "He was the only tall guy there."

Maupin and his former wife, Carolyn, pressured the Pentagon for nearly four years to keep looking for their son. They met with President Bush on his trips to Cincinnati and received periodic briefings in Washington,

"We told them we don't hold the Army responsible but we're damn sure going to hold you accountable for getting Matt home," Maupin said.

His son's remains were found in March on the outskirts of Baghdad, about 12 miles from where the convoy was ambushed. While he was missing, the Maupins had distributed photos of Matt in thousands of boxes of snacks, games, magazines and toiletries sent to troops in Iraq by the Yellow Ribbon Support Center, which the Maupins ran in suburban Cincinnati.

"It seems as though these bad guys over there think they can do whatever they want to do and they don't have to answer to nobody," Maupin said. "We all have to answer to somebody sooner or later."

Maupin said U.S. military officials have told him that two other Iraqi militants involved in the attack on Matt's convoy were captured earlier this year, were tried and sentenced to death not for his son's murder but for terrorist acts.

"They said absolutely, positively, these are two of those men," Maupin said.

The statement released by the military on Thursday said Hammadi, also known as Hammadi Awdah Abd Farhan and Abd-al-Salam Ahmad Abdallah al-Janabi, led a group of fighters against U.S. forces in the second battle of Fallujah in the fall of 2004.

Hammadi also was the mastermind of a June 26 suicide bombing against a meeting of pro-government Sunni sheiks in Karmah, west of Baghdad, the military said. The attacker was dressed as an Iraqi policeman and killed three U.S. Marines, two interpreters and more than 20 Iraqis.

"Hammadi escorted the suicide bomber to the location and videotaped the attack," the military said.

Five other suspected insurgents were detained in the raid that killed Hammadi, it added. The military said it was announcing the death after Hammadi was positively identified.

It said the insurgent leader became al-Qaida's emir in a volatile area west of Baghdad in 2004 and had links to slain al-Qaida in Iraq leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi and his successor Abu Ayyub al-Masri, also known as Abu Hamza al-Muhajir.

"The removal of Hajji Hammadi from the AQI (al-Qaida in Iraq) network is yet another significant blow to the terrorist organization," Brig. Gen. David Perkins said.

Stay tuned to NBC 4 and refresh nbc4i.com for the latest news and information.

To send a news tip or submit a story idea, e-mail .
NBC 4 POLITICS: Headlines, Interactives & Video

MORE: NBC 4 Local News | Local Crime News

NBC 4 SPORTS: Sports News, Video